For many, the journey to success in the fashion industry can be tedious, circuitous and grueling. But for Weehawken native and Union City resident Helen Carlina Castillo, the ruggedness of the industry is incentive to persevere.

The 26-year-old reached the final round of Season 12 of reality TV show Project Runway this fall before being eliminated. But the offers are pouring in.

"My inbox has been flooded
with commissions and photo shoot offers for my gowns, for press, and publicity
events," said Castillo, who was doing freelance work with Reebok before joining the cast of the show.

Project Runway pits 15 emerging designers against each other in a
series of challenges, with contestants being eliminated each week. Castillo describes her time on
the show as "practically like boot camp."

"I am still learning, and as a
graduate from FIT in 2012 I think I did pretty well," said Castillo. She's now working on a collection for New York Fashion Week.

For Castillo, the fashion bug hit early.

"I grew up in a creative
home, both my parents being fine artists," said Castillo, who graduated from Sacred Heart Academy in Hoboken before going to FIT. "I've always been an avid illustrator
of portrait and model drawing."

She vividly remembers the first article of clothing that she ever designed -- "an awful Peter Pan collar dress in my first
sewing class at FIT."

Castillo plans to pursue her own label, even if it's without the help of the more than $500,000 in prizes that go along with winning Project Runway.

She describes her personal style as
"modern couture" and says her primary concern is "the fit."

"No two bodies are exactly
the same and as an up-and-coming designer, a big factor in being successful
is to understand the human body," she said. "I have a
particular customer I design my work for, a trend-conscious woman who
knows quality and finesse and doesn't have an issue pushing the style boundaries
with classics reborn."